The CTDL was designed to provide a centralized service to support investigators in the College of Dentistry who required biologic measures fortheir clinical, translational, and basic science projects. The core support services in the Phase III center operations include: (1) an array of measures of host responses in a range of biologic fluids (eg. serum, saliva, cervico-vaginal fluids, cell culture supernatants, tissue homogenates, etc.); (2) microbiological/virological assays for oral bacteria and bacteria from other mucosal sites, and viruses related to oral diseases. This includes cultivation, molecular analysis, and preparation of batches of organisms for in vitro studies; (3) genetics/genomics analysis which include preparation of DNA and RNA from various samples, analytic approaches for GWAS, SNP, miRNA, and epigenetic variations related to specific project needs; and (4) mineralized tissue analysis including both histomorphometric, microCT, and cellular studies of bone biology.